Of Mixed Blood
by Lydia Sanyue
Summary: -SUMMARY- It was just another night at Karasumori, when someone suddenly appears, destroys a particularly strong ayakashi in a flash, and leaves without a word. Gen returned to the Yagyou to attend urgent business, rendering Yoshimori and Tokine unable to chase after this mysterious person. Rated for language and blood.
1. Red Kekkai

**Hey guys! Here's my technically first fanfic, but i deleted my other one...it was just to awkward to continue...heheh but anyways, hope you guys like it! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KEKKAISHI OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. except mine.**

**R&R Please! Thankies~**

* * *

**-EPILOUGE-**

"Naoko-chan! Naoko! Where are you?" The 8th legitimate successor of the Sumimura frantically searched for his partner. Naoko Yukimura, a young kekkaishi that just entered her twenties seemingly disappeared after chasing mysterious figures that appeared at Karasumori. The young man had searched all night to no avail. He was left with only her staff and the last words of his secret love. Who exactly were those people? After many years, the young man gave up the search outwardly, but hoped and prayed that his love would return one day. He made note of her disappearance and the Yukimura and Sumimura households subsequently declared her officially dead after her disappearance three years later. From then on, both households grew distant and were always in argument. Note was taken and put away in the scrolls that belonged to the legitimate successors and forgotten. Until many, many years later, a figure dressed in all black seemingly fell from the sky one night and appeared to blend into society, remaining unnoticed by most.****

-CHAPTER 1-  
-

"Yeah, got it. Bye."Gen switched off his cell phone and prepared to leave his apartment flat. "Hey guys, I'm heading back to Headquarters, I'll probably be back here in a few weeks."

Yoshimori and Tokine nodded understandingly and smiled.  
"See you then."  
"Bye Gen-kun, see you in a few weeks."  
Yoshimori and Tokine left the apartment and walked home together. Dusk was falling, turning the sky a deep purple, stars starting to pop out of the sky. Both said their goodbyes and returned to their homes, Tokine telling Yoshimori not to be late again. Unknown to them, a pair of watchful eyes had followed the two figures home, keen ears listening to their conversations.

"Argh, crap, crap, crap! I woke up late again! Sorry dad, I can't eat dinner at home today, I'll eat on my way to school tonight!" Yoshimori hurriedly tugged on his purple Kekkaishi uniform, slung on his yellow backpack, slipped on his sneakers and grabbed the bento box his dad packed all in one motion.

"Be safe, and have a nice night, Yoshimori!" Shuuji, his dad smiled from behind his glasses and waved goodbye at the door.  
"Mmf, bye dad!" Yoshimori responded between mouthfuls while running down the street with a yawning Madarao. Yoshimori arrived at the school's back gates to find Tokine sitting leisurely on the entrance overhang, talking to Hakubi, her spirit dog.  
"Ah, Honey, look who came late tonight." Sneered the black and white spirit dog.

"Hmm, seems like his brain can't remember what I told him this afternoon, I bet tonight's ayakashi are too much for him, as usual." Tokine smiled and laughed with Hakubi while gazing down at a huffy Yoshimori.

"Shut up, my sleep helps me grow taller!" Yoshimori stalked off into the school yards to look for ayakashi. Madarao, Yoshimori's white spirit dog sniffed the air daintily.

"Yoshi, you better hurry before Tokine gets the ayakashi that just appeared."

"Where? Tell me!"

"The main courtyard, two small ones. Seriously, you're always so slow that you even let Hakubi's crappy nose get to it first."

"You shut up too! It's not my fault you don't tell me where it is!" Yoshimori hurried off towards the courtyard only to find Tokine surround the two ayakashi with her green kekkai.

"Ugh, not again! Tokine, you always get them fist, can't you save some for me?" The boy pouted.

"Yoshimori, how many times do I have to tell you?" Tokine sighed and crossed her arms, "If I keep them for you, they're just going to get more powerful and it will be harder to destroy them."

"Oh...right..." Yoshimori looked down at Tokine's hand, his face clouding over at the thought of getting her hurt again. Then, Hakubi and Madarao both howled and covered their noses.

"Honey, get rid of this ayakashi fast! It reeks like the one Masamori defeated!"  
"Yoshi, I'm gonna die, its near the cherry trees! Oh, the smell!"

"Let's go then, I'm so gonna beat you, Tokine!"

"Yoshimori, wait! We need to work out a plan! Ugh, never mind, he always runs off..." Tokine jogged after the young teenager. As the two teenagers reached the cherry trees, they spotted a giant, lumpy ayakashi, which really smelled like a cesspool as they approached. Then, out of nowhere, a figure clothed in black landed next to the ayakashi, blew a torrent of fire onto the monster, and surrounded it with a red kekkai and quickly destroyed the ayakashi, leaving only a scorched ground.

"Hey, who the heck are you?! That was mine!" Yoshimori angrily stamped his foot.

The intruder gave no response, but simply turned away to leap over the school walls in one swift movement.

"Yoshimori, that's dangerous, you don't just approach a stranger like that! Besides, didn't you see that person's eyes? They look like those of a cats', and I felt a strange aura coming from that person..." Tokine reprimanded Yoshimori. He only huffed in response and mumbled that dawn was breaking and headed home. Tokine sighed and decided to return home as well, seeing that the sky turning a pale rose color, as the sun began to rise.

"Honey, what are you going to do? After that ayakashi was destroyed, I smelled a scent close to that of Gen's, an ayakashi-majiri, but also kind of like yours and that Sumimura boy, a Kekkaishi's. Furthermore, that person used a kekkai, and I have not heard of any other kekkai-users other than those from the Yukimura and Sumimura clans."  
"Hmm...I'll ask grandma to look into it tomorrow, I'm going to sleep before I go to school. Thanks, Hakubi, you did well tonight." The two parted inside the Yukimura courtyard.

"Good morning, class! Sumimura, at least stay awake for the first five minutes of class, we have a new student entering in our class today!" The teacher walked towards the door and let in the new student. Every one shifted in their seats and started to chatter amongst themselves upon seeing their new classmate. A slender girl, with short, layered, jet-black hair with a burgundy tint that framed her face and nearly brushed her shoulders, glared across the room. What most of the students were chattering about, was not her serious expression, but her eyes. One, a deep sapphire blue, the other, a piercing emerald green, both with dilated, slit pupils of a cat's.

"Everyone, please welcome Heiyata Honomi, she has just moved into our city, so please treat her nicely. Is there anything you want to say, Heiyata-san?"

"No."

"Then, you can sit...there. There's an empty seat next to the window in the back row. Is that all right?"  
"Yeah. " The girl brushed past the teacher, and silently went to her seat, making almost no sound.

"Well then, everyone stop talking and open your books to page 38..." With that, the day continued on into the break period. As soon as the bell rang, Yurina jumped from her seat and dragged a half-awake Yoshimori outside.

"Sumimura-kun, don't you feel anything weird today? That new student, she's really scary, and she smells like blood, kind of like Shishio-kun."

"Uhh...don't worry, it's probably just your imagination...if that's all, I'm going back to sleep..."

Yurina looked uncertain as she returned to her seat, glancing at the new girl, who was staring out the window, into the cloudless sky. To be honest, Yoshimori did feel slightly unsettled by the new girl, the air around her seemed feral, quite unnerving, in fact. He decided to brush it off and buried his head back into his pillow, drifting off into a deep sleep. Heiyata Honomi had actually heard the the two classmates' conversations, her keen ears catching every word clearly, but eventually ignored them, allowing their voices to merge with the drone of the rest of the classroom. Focusing her eyes outside, she sat waiting for the dull school day to end.

Night fell again, and a pair of glittering eyes silently watched the two Kekkaishis argue on Karasumori grounds. From her rooftop post, she immediately sensed an ayakashi about to appear in the main courtyard at the middle of the the two schools. Seeing that the two spirit dogs have not yet detected the ayakashi, she decided to go ahead and wait for the monster to appear. She nimbly leaped over the rooftop fence and landed in one of the trees that circled the main courtyard, crouched atop one of the thick branches, hidden from view. After a few moments, a the dirt ground of the courtyard began to warp, as an ayakashi began to appear. Emerging from the dirt, a six-foot tall mole-like ayakashi with spikes on it back shoveled it way out of the ground. The girl in the tree cocked her ears to hear the dogs alert the kekkaishi about the ayakashi. Deciding that the kekkaishi were taking too long, she jumped down from the tree and faced the ayakashi, ready to surround it. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled a plume of fire onto the ayakashi, and stood there waiting for it to burn into ashes. Unfortunately, the ayakashi laughed, the sound rumbling across the courtyard while using its giant, spade-like hands to shovel dirt on top of itself, extinguishing the fire. Before the girl was able to surround the ayakashi with a kekkai, the ayakashi leaped toward her, its clawed hands poised in the air, revealing jaws lined with rows of teeth. Almost a moment too late, she surrounded its snout with a kekkai pinning its open jaws in place. What she had not expected, was the rest of the body to swing down, following momentum and meet solidly with her midsection. Thrown backwards in the air, and smashing her head against one of the tree trunks, she blacked out after trying to get up unsuccessfully and flopped down on her side.

Yoshimori and Tokine rounded the corner just to see the same black figure from the previous night catapult into a tree and a quite large ayakashi slash away at a red kekkai surrounding its snout, and turn to face them. Assuming defensive stances, the two kekkaishi poised their hands in a ready position to surround the ayakashi. Yoshimori, as usual, tried to surround the ayakashi with a giant kekkai. Tokine, on the other hand, looked past the ayakashi, searching for the mysterious figure still lying on the ground. Deciding to just surround the unknown person for the time being, she focused her attention on the ayakashi after making a kekkai around the figure sprawled on the ground. Yoshimori grew annoyed at the ayakashi after unsuccessful attempts to destroy the ayakashi, which simply slashed through every barrier. Tokine rolled her eyes at Yoshimori, and pierced through each of the ayakashi's paws, and pinning them in the air with two kekkais.

"Yoshimori, now!" Tokine instructed. Giving a satisfied grin, he finally surrounded the struggling ayakashi and destroyed it. Raising her staff, as Yoshimori had left his lying somewhere around the entrance again, Tokine cleaned up the remaining particles to prevent the ayakashi from regenerating. Now, she turned her attention towards her captive.  
"Yoshimori, let's go see who that person is."  
"Yeah, sure."  
As the two neared Tokine's kekkai, she released it with a wave of her hand. Tokine crouched down and examined the figure. Slender and fit, it was obviously a girl clothed in a fitted turtleneck tank, it was all black except for a giant, crimson red diamond in the back, much like the houin mark, but turned its side, a square diamond. The girls' hands and feet were calloused and each nail looked deadly sharp. Her bottoms consisted of knee-length spandex-like material shorts. Her bare feet were bandaged up to the bottom of her knees. Tokine reached a cautious hand to brush away shoulder-length hair from her face. The second Tokine's fingers brushed against her face, the girl's eyes snapped open revealing mismatching cat eyes. Her hand reflexively swatted out at the two surprised kekkaishis in defense, making them jump back in response. Yoshimori's gaze was locked on the girl's piercing blue and emerald green eyes, which seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't place where he saw them before. Tokine stood defensively, facing the girl who had shot up and out at them with newly clawed hands, said nails gown into even deadlier looking metal tips, encasing the entire fingers.

"Who are you, and what do you want here?" Tokine inquired. She was only met with a snarl, as the girl's lips curled back to reveal unusually sharp canines and wary eyes dancing between the two kekkaishis.

"Hey! Tokine asked you a question! Who the heck are you?!" Yoshimori angrily snapped. Like Tokine, he was only met with a glare and bared teeth. After a few strained seconds, the girl crouched, and leaped over the two kekkaishis, onto the school gate, and disappeared over it. The kekkaishis could only follow her actions before registering what just happened. Too late, Yoshimori angrily shouted, "Hey! Come back here! You didn't answer our questions!"

"Yoshimori, it's too late."  
"Argh, not again! But, I feel like I've seen those eyes before..." Yoshimori stood there with his hand on his chin, racking his mind.

"Honey," Hakubi interjected, "It's the same smell..."

"Really? Yoshimori, last night, Hakubi told me she smelled like an ayakashi-majiri and a kekkaishi at the same time, so I decided to ask Grandma about it."

"What? That's possible?" Yoshimori reeled at the thought.

"Yes, and Grandma told me that she has never heard of it, and would look into the records and do some research."

"Well, I guess we should get that person tomorrow then, because our work is done for the night." Yoshimori yawned and went to retrieve his staff.

"I guess..." Tokine resigned for the night and started to head home. Another fruitless night had ended, other than finding out the face of the mysterious person.

* * *

**Ohhh cliffy~ Stay tuned!**

**Hopefully I'll be able to upload a new chapter every week or so! Don't forget to review~**


	2. Octopus

**Yay new chappie~ Please tell me if the format I'm typing in is hard to read...and remember to review! Thanks~ xD**

**DISCLAIMER: Kekkaishi and their characters doesn't belong to me! **

**but my OC is mine xD**

* * *

-CHAPTER 2-

~Honomi's POV~

Opening my eyes, my head was flooded with the loud racket of my alarm. Wishing that my ears were not so sensitive for the umpteenth time in my life, I squinted my eyes at the clock that read 6:30 AM. I stood up, yawned, and stretched, rubbing the bump on my head which emitted a dull, throbbing ache. Moving about my sparse apartment, I rolled up my bed into the corner and headed to the bathroom to wash up. I recounted the events from the night before, cursing myself for not anticipating the worst with an ayakashi and ended up blacking out. Rolling my eyes at myself, I locked my apartment and headed down the street to buy breakfast, wanting to avoid as many people as possible so I don't have to deal with so many stares. In the end, I still received a stare from the clerk who managed my order. Sighing, I at my breakfast while walking to another boring day at school, automatically shutting out the smells and sounds of the waking city.

~No one's POV~  
Yoshimori walked into the classroom, plopped himself down, and buried his head into his pillow as usual, not giving a care in the world about his grades. The week passed without anymore encounters with the girl in black at Karasumori during the night, and Tokine's grandma did not find any information about ayakashi-majiri being kekkai users, much less another kekkaishi unknown to them. But on that Sunday night, Madarao and Hakubi caught scent of the girl again.

"Hakubi, can you tell where she is exactly?"

"Honey, it's hard, she's been everywhere on school grounds. To tell you the truth, she's been here the entire week, and her scent is mixing in with yours and that Sumimura boy. And its hard to tell the difference now. I only know she's here right now because the scent is stronger tonight..."

"Madarao, what about you?"

"Uh...if you give me deer meat, then I'll tell you where she is! "

"Shut up, you stupid dog, spirits can't eat, much less get deer meat!"

The girl had been watching and listening to them as usual from her rooftop spot, balancing atop the fence that circled the roof. She sensed an ayakashi that was about to appear, and jumped down to wait for it, which, happened to be right where the two kekkaishis were standing. Madarao and Hakubi scented the ayakashi as it materialized near them, but was unable to alert their masters as they were pierced through with giant tentacles, causing the dogs to dissipate into the air. Another tentacle wrapped itself around Yoshimori and threw him against the school building, knocking him out cold. Tokine, startled, tripped and conveniently sprained her ankle on one of the numerous tentacles that seemed to be wriggling around on the ground. Tokine tried to get up, but felt an arm wrap itself around her midsection, and was launched into the air. Just as she reached climax in the air and was about to descend, she became encased in a red-hued kekkai.

"Hey! Let me out! What do you want?!" Tokine banged the walls of the barrier, suspended in the air.

"Stay up there and see if you can get rid of this thing." The girl coolly responded. With a cold gaze, she turned away and walked towards Yoshimori. Geez, such a cold personality, Tokine pouted and rested her chin on her hand, looking down to see a giant octopus-like ayakashi starting to wander the school grounds. Tokine then shifted her focus on the girl, which had suddenly raised a hand to slap Yoshimori soundly across the face.

"Hey! What are you doing to Yoshimori?!" Tokine angrily shouted from her spot in the air.

"Shut up, are you blind? I told you to do something else." The girl didn't even turn to face Tokine, and grabbed the boy's collar and shook him, which seemed effective, as he started to stir. Growing impatient, the girl tilted her head back, took Yoshimori's head in her hands, and collided their foreheads together, causing Yoshimori to fully wake up.

"Arghh! Owww, ow, ow! What the hell was that for, Tokine?!" Yoshimori cradled his aching head in his hands. Raising his eyes, he was unexpectedly met with cold, glaring eyes, instead of Tokine's chocolate-colored ones. His mouth gaping, he stood there speechless, not knowing whether to either get angry at the girl, or to look for Tokine, as he had not noticed her in the air. The girl turned on her heel, and stalked off to face the octopus ayakashi. It was quite large, its round head the size of a large truck tire, and waving, sucker-less, tentacles easily over ten feet long, the tips a hardened steel, which stabbed the ground as it tried to drag its sluggish head around.

"Yoshimori, are you alright? Go get the ayakashi first! We'll try to talk to the girl later!" Yoshimori looked up in surprise to see Tokine in a kekkai.

"What? Wait, what the heck is going on?! Oh, screw this, this is my ayakashi tonight!" Yoshimori shook his head and started to run towards the ayakashi. The ayakashi's bulging eyes swiveled in Yoshimori and the girl's direction. The girl took a deep breath and blew out a stream of fire on the oncoming tentacles hurtling towards them. Squealing, the ayakashi reared back its tentacles to regenerate its now-burnt wriggling stubs. Seeing this as a likely chance, Yoshimori prepared to surround the ayakashi, but missed, due to his lack of skill and practice. Having enough time to regenerate, the ayakashi now had double its arms, and entire tentacles of wriggling steel. Tokine on the other hand, sensed the danger, and decided to surround the tentacles individually, but failed. Each of her kekkais were nimbly evaded by the agile tentacles. Down below, the girl discovered that using fire was the best way to effectively destroy the ayakashi, inhaled deeply again, but froze in the process of exhaling. What the trio had not noticed was, another ayakashi similar to the first had appeared behind them. This one had lashed out at the two on the ground. One of its limbs whacked Yoshimori's back, knocking him flat onto the ground. The other had struck out directly at the girl, who looked down to see a steel-tip protruding from her stomach. Cursing, she clawed behind her with her claws, her fingers entirely transformed into giant, deadly weapons, severing the tentacle from her body. She pulled out the tentacle from stomach, breathing heavily as a dark liquid dripped onto the floor. Yoshimori slowly got back onto his feet, and watched in slight disgust as the girl removed the foreign object.

"Hey...are you okay?" Yoshimori hesitantly asked.

"Do I look fine? Besides, I'm a freak anyways, you should be paying attention on something else." The girl clamped her hand over her midsection, which miraculously stopped bleeding, but the wound still apparent. Tokine had watched in growing horror from above, hating herself for being unable of doing anything. The girl turned her head upwards towards the girl and growled, "Hey you, girl, go stab them through with those rod-kekkais you make. Hurry up."

Tokine came back to her senses and started to make kekkais, trying to pin the two ayakashis. She noticed that their heads usually remained stationary, the tentacles doing all the work. She aimed carefully at the two bulging masses, and stabbed down at them with four thin, sharp kekkais each. The girl exhaled a stream of fire, spraying the advancing limbs, setting them alight like wriggling candles. Yoshimori surrounded one of the heads, exploded his barrier, and destroyed the monster. The other head, heaved itself up despite Tokine's kekkais and launched itself towards Yoshimori, and landed on his face, suffocating him. The girl let out a snarl and reserved herself in ripping up the the ayakashi atop a barely conscious Yoshimori. Smiling to herself and grinning like a maniac, she shredded the octopus-like head in mere seconds.

"Are you done yet? I kinda want to get down from here..." Tokine's voice snapped the girl out of her own world, her face clouding over and returning to her usual cold demeanor. The girl waved her hand and released the barrier, catching a surprised Tokine and then sat her down on the grown, aware of her injured ankle. Tokine thought for a moment and asked, "If you don't mind, can you somehow help us home? I mean, as it is..." and motioned to her ankle and looked over at Yoshimori, who was still lying on the ground. The girl showed no emotion, her face blank. She simply went over to Yoshimori, slung him over her back piggy-back style, walked over to Tokine, who leaned on her shoulder the rest of the way home. As they reached the Sumimura's gate, Tokine banged on the door yelling, "Hello? Is anyone awake? Please open the door!" A nearly bald head poked out, Yoshimori's grandfather quite annoyed. He opened his mouth to chastise his grandson, but stopped when he saw him on some girl's back. "You good for nothing grandson of mine, why can't you open the door yourself, geez-"

"Ah, well, Yoshimori was attacked, but he's probably fine, so..." Tokine trailed off, as her explanation wasn't needed because Yoshimori's father, Shuuji, came rushing out.

"Oh no! Yoshimori! What happened? Is he alright?"

"Shuuji, he's fine, just take him in. Yukimura girl, who is this girl?" Shigemori waved off his son-in-law as Shuuji took Yoshimori inside and eyed the girl who carried his grandson. Tokine opened her mouth to speak, but the girl had cut her off.

"Heiyata Honomi, I'm in your grandson's class." With that, she gave a slight bow and turned to leave.

"I'll take my leave now, good night." Tokine hurriedly bid goodnight to the Sumimura, and hopped after Honomi. "Hey! You're in Yoshimori's class? How come he didn't tell me?" Honomi faced Tokine and said, "He was sleeping." And leaped over the rooftops, disappearing once again.

Honomi reached her apartment, breathless and tired from the night. It seemed that her wound was not able to heal as quickly as usual, for there was poison mixed in her blood, preventing it from closing up completely. Quickly swapping her night clothes for a simple shirt and shorts, she bandaged up her midsection quickly and set to mending her night uniform, unaware of the poison. Finishing just as birds began to chirp, her clock read 4:35 AM. Honomi rolled out her bed, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The clocked ticked, time passed, and the alarm rang, and surprisingly, met with deaf ears. Honomi had not heard it, for she had fallen into a feverish sleep, her temperature spiked high, caused by the ayakashi poison.  
In the morning, as Tokine and Yoshimori walked to school together, she was met with a half-awake Yoshimori once again. Sighing, she asked Yoshimori if he had seen the girl in his class. After a few moments while slurping his coffee milk, Yoshimori answered that he vaguely remembers a new classmate, but forgot who. Tokine, feeling exasperated, told Yoshimori to pay attention for at least five minutes in class and look for new classmates. She received a half-hearted "yes", and walked off to meet her friends at the crosswalk. Yoshimori arrived at his classroom, and scanned the room for his friend with the journal full of information about school. He found him, and asked if there was a new classmate recently.

"Yoshimori, haven't you seen that girl with the creepy eyes? Her name is Heiyata Honomi Everyone think she's cursed or something. Anyways, there are rumors that she's secretly a demon in a human body, but who knows? Uhm...she's not here today, maybe she transferred!" With a smile, his friend snapped his journal shut and walked off to his desk. Yoshimori sat at his desk, and decided to tell Tokine during lunch break that the person they've been seeing at night is mostly likely the same person, after all, they shared same name. Lunch break came and passed, and Tokine took the information in consideration, telling Yoshimori to keep tabs that night and look out for Honomi.

Night fell, and the two kekkaishis met up, Yoshimori surprisingly on time. Hakubi took this moment to tease him, "Oh, I see that Yoshimori is early today, maybe he has given up on Tokine and is looking for that girl? Tsk, tsk, such a wavering heart."

"Shut up! At least I don't disappear whenever I get hit!" Yoshimori pouted his child-like face and turned away.

"Oh...such harsh words..." Hakubi smirked and floated back to Tokine. Madarao chuckled and responded, "Yoshimori, if you buy me some deer meat with its soul still intact, I'll track down that girl for you..."

"Ew! Heck no! And why would I spend money on a spirit like you?" Yoshimori blushed and smacked his spirit dog.

"Honey, one has appeared in the courtyard again, and that girl too, just to let you know."

"Okay, thanks Hakubi, let's go Yoshimori." Tokine flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder and turned, not waiting for a steaming Yoshimori. The two kekkaishi jogged over to the courtyard, and found a lion-like ayakashi. Its mane a mass of fire, and and long, barbed tail, the ayakashi seemed almost impossible to approach as it turned and emitted a deafening roar. Sound-waves that shook the surrounding trees, the racket was just too much for the two humans to bear, much less, the sensitive ears of Honomi's. Seeing that nothing could be done without silencing it, Honomi conjured a kekkai around the beast's snout, distracting and disabling the ayakashi for the time being. As the two kekkaishi approached the girl, they could see that she was ill. Slightly hunched over and sweating, Honomi pressed her hand on her midsection to ease the throbbing wound, and frowned upon the thought that even a small kekkai drained her energy. At least her ears had stopped ringing from that dreadful racket.

"Hey...are you okay?" Tokine looked over at Honomi.

"Do I look 'okay'?" Honomi hissed back, "Just go and get that ayakashi first, my ears are killing me."

"Um, okay...Well, you just stay here for now." Tokine turned to look for Yoshimori. "Yoshimori, wait, oh, nevermind." Sighing at the sight of Yoshimori running headfirst at the ayakashi, Tokine contemplated how he would ever become the legitimate successor. "Yoshimori! Come back here!" The young kekkaishi threw up his arms in exasperation and trudged back.

"What? It's impossible!"

"Oh, come on! We've done harder ayakashi than this one. Here, you hid in the tree while its not looking, and I'll do the same. We'll get Honomi to distract it with her fire technique, then you will encase it with that big kekkai of yours. I'll follow up and pierce it with my rod kekkai. Got it?"

"Whoa, you're so genius!" Yoshimori gazed at her with those child-like eyes.

"Whatever, you need to use your brain sometimes, Yoshi." Rolling her eyes at the boy, she turned to consult Honomi.

"Honomi, did you catch what I just explained to Yoshimori?"

"Yeah, I heard everything." With that, she strutted off to face the demon. Slightly squatting down, she assumed the fighting horse stance, placed her hands around her mouth, took in a deep breath, and exhaled a stream of red-hot fire. The ayakashi, seemingly distracted by fire became engulfed in flames and pawed at the licking fire. Honomi stepped back and a giant blue kekkai encased both fire and beast. As soon as the Yoshimori's kekkai closed, Tokine's thin green kekkai rammed through the beast's body. Howling in pain, the beast's tail lashed out against the sides of its confining barrier. Yoshimori, surprised at the action, lost his concentration for a second. This was all it took for the tail to go through the kekkai and continue its path straight into Honomi's already unfortunate stomach, splitting her wound open even wider.

"Yoshimori! What have you done?!" Tokine leaped down from her hiding spot and ran towards Honomi.

"I'm sorry! Don't move, I'm coming!" Yoshimori followed her.

"Both of you, leave me be! Focus on the ayakashi!" Honomi spat through clenched teeth. Tokine and Yoshimori stood there, wanting to help, but also needed to take current matters into hand. The lion-ayakashi's laughter rumbled towards them, causing the two kekkaishi to become even more distressed. Honomi grew impatient and threw a double kekkai around the beast. The two quickly finished off the monster just in time to see Honomi collapse in a heap on the ground. Tokine quickly cleaned up the burnt courtyard and rushed over to help Yoshimori put Honomi on his back. He could feel her warm blood seeping through his robes. Tokine hurriedly sent out two shikigami to her grandmother and the Sumimura. Tokine instructed Yoshimori to take them to his house as it was closer than hers.

~Honomi's POV~  
I watched as the two flitted into the trees as I walked towards the ayakashi. As soon as Yoshimori's kekkai and Tokine's kekkai went in place, I knew something was wrong. I didn't have time to dodge the tail as the soundwaves once again nearly deafened me. Too late, the tail was stuck into me. It was as if a red-hot brand set my insides on fire, turning and twisting with my every move. I could feel my warm blood trickling down my clothes, hearing the drops drip and splash onto the dirt ground. White spots exploded in front of my eyes as the barbs ran through me, barbs catching against my insides. It felt like a thousand kitchen knives somersaulting inside me, I could feel the venom coursing through my veins now. There was only so much time left to destroy this monster as my vision started to blur and darken around the edges. White spots danced in front of me, beckoning me to close my eyes and sleep. We finished off the beast, and by then, I could hold on no longer. My knees buckled, the ground came up to meet me, and then everything went dark. Tokine's voice and Yoshimori's voice grew dim. Why couldn't they leave me alone? All I wanted was to destroy these demons and assist the kekkaishi, even though I didn't like them one bit. I'm a freak anyways, so why should they care so much about me? They can't find out who I really am, or else they'll all hate me for sure. I feel like I'm being sucked into a dark and endless void, but that's okay, because nobody's going to miss me anyways...  
~No one's POV~

"Honomi! Honomi! Wake up! Don't fall asleep on me, come on, you gotta wake up!" Yoshimori and Tokine kept on trying to wake up the unconscious Honomi. They ran as fast as they could to the Sumimura house. As they rounded the corner, they could see Yoshimori's father waving at the door in frantic motions.

"Yoshimori! Tokine-san! Hurry, we have everything ready! Masamori is already on his way, and Tokine, your grandmother is also on her way. Hurry, come in, come in!"

Tokine nodded and quickly helped Yoshimori take off his sandals and put down his backpack and staff in the hallway. The two kekkaishis followed behind Shigemori down the long hallways and through various doors and reached a large room. Bowls of hot water and medical supplies were laid neatly around a clean bed on the floor. Shigemori came in with Tokiko.

"Masamori will be here in a few minutes. In the mean time, before we do anything, let's seal this room and wrap her up."

"Yes, Father. Toshimori, please wait outside, okay?" Shigemori motioned for everyone to stand back. Yoshimori gently laid Honomi on the bed and stepped back. He watched his father place a seal around the room to prevent Honomi from escaping and outsiders from coming in. He then proceeded to wrap up her midsection with clean bandages. As soon as he finished, Masamori appeared in the doorway.

"Father, I will be coming in." With a wave, he opened a hole and deftly resealed the room. "Grandfather, is this the girl you have been observing?"

"Yes, according to Madarao and Hakubi, she has a scent of an ayakashi like that of Shishio Gen, but also that of a kekkaishi. Tokiko and I have considered the fact that she is an ayakashi-majiri, but we have never heard of ayakashi-majiri and kekkaishi blood mixed in one person."

"Ahem, yes, that is true. There have been no instances, only ayakashi-majiri, and kekkaishi. This truly can't be possible, as ayakashi and kekkaishi oppose each other. And such experimentation to create kekkaishi and ayakashi chimeras is forbidden."

"Well, as you all know, even though this is forbidden, it is possible." Masamori looked at each person in the room with a serious expression.

"What?! Aniki, but didn't you say this was forbidden?"

"Yes, Yoshimori, but I have gathered that in the ayakashi's dimension, known as Kokubourou, where ayakashi come from, have been performing experiments. And as you see here, Heiyata Honomi is an escaped final product. It seems that they took one of our ancestors, Yukimura Naoko, whom we thought dead, extracted her kekkaishi abilities taken and placed them in Heiyata Honomi. Yukimura Naoko was chasing after agents of Kokubourou in attempt to capture them, but was accidentally sucked into the demon's dimension, and taken into experimentation by chance. Although she is long dead, they have extracted her ability and placed it into innumerable subjects of ayakashi-majiri and ayakashi. This was an attempt to create an ultimate weapon of theirs and use it against the kekkaishi themselves and gain Karasumori's power. So, Heiyata Honomi is their only final and successful product. They call this a "konetsu-ayakashi", or simply "konetsu" for "mixed-blood". She is also a hineko-type ayakashi, or a fire-feline/cat ayakashi, and one of the best ayakashi-majiri I have seen so far in ability and human-social compatibilities. Although I do not know her reasons for coming here, but I do believe it is clear that she wanted out of that place from her own will."

"Hmm, well, this is certainly puzzling subject, but I believe it is alright to aid this girl," Tokine's grandmother looked down at the young girl with newfound understanding. "Well, what are you all doing? Get moving, we have a life to save!"

They all scrambled around to wet bandages and sanitizing supplies.

* * *

**ACK! Survival is key~ **

**Hope you enjoyed it...REVIEW PLEAAASE! **

**New chapter next week hopefully xD**


	3. Drifting In and Out

**Hey guys~ Sorry I haven't updated in ****_FOREVERRR_****, it't just that my internet is down and I've got college apps...and all that stupid stuff going down...**

**But anyways, I put in an extra long chappie for you all~ ENJOY AND REVIEW~**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KEKKAISHI OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS**

**Honomi is mine though. X3**

* * *

Tokiko shook her head at the teenager lying in front of her. Once they had gingerly unwrapped her soaked bandages, it revealed a festering, gaping wound. True her regenerative ayakashi abilities was attempting to recreate the damaged cells, but the poison was preventing that from happening, resulting in a serious infection if the people staring at the wound didn't do something fast.

"Cleaning the wound won't fix the problem," Tokiko gravely said, shaking her head slowly, "we're going to have to cauterize this wound."

"What?! That's insane! We might as well just kill her in the process!" A certain hothead voiced an objection.

"Then tell me if you have any other brilliant ideas, Sumimura."

"Why don't we just stitch it up, Grandma?"

"Tokine, that's just going to seal the poison inside her system, we need to kill off the poison, so we're going to have to burn it, whether or not she survives is entirely up to her." Tokiko shifted her gaze to look upon a shivering, but sweating face. "She's running a fever as well, let's get this over with quickly. Burning the wound shut where the poison is preventing the healing is only the beginning, she needs to rest her body as well."

"Shuuji," the elderly Sumimura clan head finally spoke up, "you close up that hole with your abilities."

"Y-yes, father, but I haven't performed such extensive healing in so long…" Before Shuuji could give anymore excuses, the current legitimate successor interjected.

"Don't give me excuses! Do as I tell you to! Anyone hurt in my house will receive treatment even if they possess ayakashi abilities!"

"Yes, father! I'll get the supplies ready immediately!

"Well then, as that's settled, let's get cleaning to the other minor wounds. Fortunately the poison only directly affects where it first made contact." Tokiko instructed.

Hours passed before anyone in the room sat back to take a breather. Shuuji had finally finished closing up the wound, wrapping bandages around Honomi's midsection. Other than the strong smell of disinfectants and salves hanging in the air, there was a slight stench of burnt flesh hanging in the air. Several times, during the cauterizing procedure had Honomi coughed up blood, scaring everyone to their wits' end. But in the end, everyone pulled through, cleaning up minor scrapes and bruises, and occasionally wringing out and replacing a cool towel onto Honomi's forehead. All the while, Masamori watching the scene with analytical eyes. I should take her to the Yagyou… he dimly thought as she began to rouse. He watched as her eyes blearily opened, lethargically taking in her surroundings in with drowsiness and utter confusion. Attempting to sit up straight, she didn't really get much more than six inches off the floor before she collapsed back, gasping with pain. By this time, everyone in the room had noticed scrambled onto their feet, crowding around her. Tokine rushed to Honomi's side, trying to help her sit up. Honomi attempted to upright herself, rolling onto her side with an arm trying to support her weight, the other struggling to push herself upright. Tokine slowly supported her back and shoulders into an upright position. Just as Honomi's mismatched eyes widened in panic as she realized she hadn't recognized her surroundings and the people crowding around her, she doubled over in agony, clutching her stomach.

"Aghh!"

"Aniki! Do something!"

"It's alright, she's just not supposed to be sitting up so soon. You guys should back up, give her some room to breathe." Masamori chuckled and leaned back against the wall.

"Honomi, you should lie down. Here, let me help you." Tokine reached around Honomi's shoulders to ease her back down.

"Don't touch me!" Honomi hissed through ground teeth, weakly slapping Tokine's hands away. She glanced around the room, her eyes brimming with panic and pain, instinctively curling up on herself.

"Hey! We saved your life! At least be grateful we helped you!" Yoshimori yelled,  
brow furrowing in obvious concern and rage. Honomi opened her mouth to snap back, but her eyes unfocused and fluttered shut, passing out and falling onto Tokine's outstretched hands.

Black, suffocating darkness_…Where are I? Who am I?_ Honomi looked down to see a reflection under her feet. She faintly felt a burning sensation in her stomach. She could just barely discern the panicked-sounding voices…echoing in the distance around her. _What are they saying? Where are they? Is that my reflection?_ She looked around her, eyes searching the black darkness around her.

"Honomi…" _Who is that? Is that my name?_

"Honomi…down here…" She looked down into what she thought was her reflection. Upon closer inspection, however, it wasn't. Honomi saw a young woman, with long, flowing, black hair, neatly tucked behind her ears, tips easily reaching her waist. She wore a white kimono, adorned with purple squares, sleeves secured with purple ribbons flowing out around her. She rose up out of the black space from underneath Honomi's feet to stand face-to-face with her, smiling gently. Honomi eyed her suspiciously.  
"Who are you?"

"I am the eighth legitimate successor of the Yukimura clan, Naoko Yukimura. And you were created with a part of my powers, so naturally, I am a part of you and your conscience."

"What…who…who am I? Where am I? What are you talking about?"

Ah, you don't seem to remember yourself?" the woman gave an amused chuckle, "not to worry, you are Heiyata Honomi, half ayakashi, half human with kekkaishi powers. A creation from Aihi, another ayakashi in Kokubouro, the demon's dimension. That is where you were created and came from." Honomi felt the fog in her mind lifting, memories materializing, rushing, flashing, dancing around the space the two shared.

"I…I came to the humans' world…to aid…the kekkaishi…why? I can't remember…where is this? You haven't answered me yet." She pouted slightly on the last sentence.

"Ah, yes. You are in your conscience, simply put, you passed out." Naoko gave a wry smile. "You were trying to destroy an ayakashi, but you got hurt instead and ended up almost dead, if the kekkaishi didn't save you, that is."

"Who?"

"Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, the twenty second legitimate successors of their respective clans. You had escaped from Kokubouro to help the kekkaishi, as you had learned your existence was made up of half of mine, when I accidentally got sucked into Kokubouro's dimension. So, you came to the conclusion of returning what you felt obliged to return and escaped from that hell of a laboratory. She disdainfully spat out the last words.

"Yes…I remember now," Honomi nodded her head, watching her memories flit around them. "but why would they care? They don't even know me."

"Honomi, they are human. Compassion, sympathy, love, joy, these things drive their souls. These are things you can never understand in Kokubouro, and certainly not the way you were brought up. You were saved with those very qualities. Remember you purpose in this world, and don't regret what you do. Try to live a little, hn?" With those last words, her image started to distort and disappear.

"Hey! Wait! I'm not done yet!"

"Life doesn't wait for those who stand idly…seize opportunities given to you. Honomi…remember…live, laugh, and learn to love…" Her voice faded away along with her image as the burning sensation in her stomach increased from a warm, bearable temperature, to next to excruciating. The darkness around her started to fade into bright, blinding light; she narrowed her eyes from the harsh lights. With a blink, she was washed over in intense light and suddenly felt extremely worn out. _Where am I now? What…?_ She vaguely felt a blanket covering her body, a cool towel resting on her head, and the anxious breathing of other people in the room. The stench of burnt flesh invaded her sinuses, mixing with the empowering scent of coppery, metallic scent of blood, causing her to almost gag. _Where is this?_ She realized she was lying down, and stiffly attempted to lift herself up. Protesting muscles unwilling to obey, she fell back onto a pair of hands. _Hands? Whose…someone's touching me…_ Honomi looked around her, her senses clearing as she heard voices around her, the same ones she had heard panicking in her head earlier. _Must have been them…_ A wave of pain racked her body, interrupting her thoughts, a brilliant fire blazing angrily in her stomach. Next came a sensory overload, people started talking rapidly to her, firing questions, a migraine was sure to come if this continued. Someone touched her, _Tokine_, she realized, the one who smelled of lavender. Honomi hated people touching her, especially people she didn't know. Memories of a stark white room passed her eyes, lab instruments floating around, harsh lights in her eyes, hands, straps, holding her down, more hands pushing needles and drugs through her system._ Don't touch me. Don't touch me. Don't touch me._ She shuddered.

"Don't touch me!" She swatted Tokine's hands away, balling her arms and legs into herself, her mind overloaded with memories and her senses, flustering, not knowing what to do.

"Hey! We saved your life! At least be grateful we helped you!"

_Too loud. Too loud. Too loud_. Her animalistic instincts started to kick in, her brain switching into defensive survival mode, processing only what was needed to survive. Eyes unfocusing, her mismatched eyes peered in panic at the faces surrounding her.

"No…stay away, don't touch me…stop…" _Fire. Burning. Pain._ Honomi barely registered the shocked shouts and hands catching her as she was enveloped in darkness again.

"Hey! Wake up! Hey-"

"Yoshimori, stop. She's out of it again." Masamori sighed. He looked over at the two elderly adults and nodded, "you two can go rest, I can take care of this." Masamori then unsealed the entrance to the room as Shigemori gave a grunt and got up to leave. Tokiko acknowledged him with a nod of her head and signaled for Tokine to leave as well. Tokine gave one last worried look at the girl sleeping fitfully on the floor and followed her grandmother.

"Yoshimori, you should go rest too, you have school in a few hours." With a pout, he too left the room, leaving Shuuji, Masamori, and Honomi remaining.

"Father, you should go rest as well, you've worked hard. Of course, when she wakes up, most likely in a few hours, if I'm not around, do try to feed her, or get her to calm down at least. The seal around the room is not a hard one to break, there's just an alarm on it so you know when she's left the room. I'm assuming she will revert back to fight-or-flight instincts, as she was starting to earlier." Masamori gave his father a reassuring smile.

"You too, Masamori, you look like you could use some sleep too."

"Yes, I will. Don't worry about me, I take care of these kinds of situations for a living."

"Alright, I'll be leaving then. Good night."

"See you later, dad."  
Shuuji gave a last encouraging smile at his eldest son and left the room. Masamori sat down at the farthest wall from Honomi, giving her space in advance when she awakens, no doubt she will need it. _There's a lot of work to be done…_ Masamori sighed, her behavior was to be expected, she was undoubtedly traumatized from physical contact experienced in Kokuborou, and what he had gathered from those few minutes, she was most likely experimented on extensively to reach her skill and had a mild case of sensory overload at that time. It was a few hours after Yoshimori had left for school when Honomi finally came around again. Only this time, she opened her eyes to see someone she had never seen before when she had managed use her elbows to push herself upright. A man in his twenties sat cross-legged across from her, staring. Honomi decided not to talk, not one to instigate a conversation anyways._ At least he's not doing anything to me._ She knew she was still in the same room, and came down to the conclusion that she was probably in one of the Kekkaishi's households.

"Care to introduce yourself?"

"You asked, you first."

"Hmm…witty, aren't you? Sumimura Masamori. I suppose you don't remember anything between waking up here and passing out on Karasumori grounds? I'm also the head of the Yagyou. Care to join us?"

"No, and no. Now, if you don't mind, I'm outta here." Honomi gingerly tried to stand up, but despite her efforts, she collapsed back onto the floor in a heap.

"I wouldn't be one to move around so much."

"Who are you to tell me what to do anyways? You don't even know who-or what I am."

"Actually, I do", Masamori said with a triumphant smirk, "Heiyata Honomi, an ayakashi-majiri-kekkaishi. A hineko ayakashi with the abilities from the essence of the Yukimura's eighth legitimate successor, Naoko Yukimura. Correct?" Honomi sat frozen on the spot, not expecting someone to have know so much about her already. "Well, if there's nothing else, I see that I can leave you here for the time being, so you just sit tight here." With a wave, Masamori left the room, leaving a stunned Honomi behind.

_Just where did he get all that information?_ _This room is too clean. Ugh, my nose is killing me._ I looked around the plain room, searching for a weak spot in the barrier. _Heh, it's supposed to keep ayakashi in, but who said it's supposed to keep kekkaishi in? I'm outta here…_ I took off all the unnecessary bandages around my arms and legs, those had already healed, thanks to my ayakashi blood and the Yukimura's salves. I got up again, stifling the urge to scream out in pain, the fire in my stomach still eminent. I could feel the wound slowly knitting itself back together, and saw that it had been burnt shut under the bandages. _Well, I'm glad that's over and done with…good thing I was out of it for that part. Now, to get out of here_…The barrier was a simple one, with a "Kai!" and a wave, I left the room. That was my first mistake. Until it was too late, I realized that was only an alerting device for whoever set it up. I shuffled as quickly as I could down one of the long halls in front of me, smelling the wafting aroma of cooking. I realized I was starving, I didn't even remember the last time I ate. _Ah, crap!_ The sound of hurried footsteps reached my ears, getting louder with the second.

"Honomi-san!" It was Yoshimori's father. I turned down yet another hallway, leaning against the wall for support, my vision starting to cloud.

"Oh no! Honomi-san! Wait!_" Dammit._

"Please return to you room, you really shouldn't be walking around like this! Ah, Masamori, can you help her back to her room?"

He chuckled, "Sure, dad."

"I'm fine, I don't need you guys to help me anymore, thanks."

"Honomi-San, please return to your room. Now." suddenly, there was a meancing aura around Shuuji-san that I had a bad feeling about. Although he had a smile on his face, I just feel that I should follow him for the time being.

"Oh...okay...sorry."

"Well then, Masamori, why don't you take her back?"  
I felt him pick me up bridal style, as he laughed and shook his head when he saw the pout on my face.

"You'd better listen to my father, he's pretty strict on health."

"Yeah, I noticed. I can walk, you know." but honestly, my stomach was killing me. I just hated people touching me.

"I know you don't like physical contact, but as far as I can see, you'd pass out again before you reach your room."

"Whatever." I let out a small yelp of surprise as he abruptly dumped me back onto the blankets on the floor.

"You're still running a temperature. You need to learn to take care of yourself." he pushed me onto my back and laid a towel on my head.

"Yoshimori and Tokine will be back in a few hours, you should rest until then."  
The warm blankets around me suddenly felt comforting, and I couldn't help myself but to close my eyes and let the darkness wash over my senses again.

"Honomi."

"Oh, it's you again, Naoko-San."

"Is that a way to greet people? Haha, you have lots to learn."

"You're not my mother."

"No, but manners might save yourself from that mouth of yours." Naoko smiled at me, in a sort of motherly way, ironically.

"Well, what do you want?" She smiled again, "You should thank them for saving your life. And you should smile more."

"What? I...I don't know how...I never needed too." I suddenly felt unsure of myself. That wasn't something I was taught to do, and certainly never needed to in Kokubouro.

"Happiness and compassion for others isn't something you learn how to do out of fighting. I know you've never needed these things to survive, but in this world, you will come to cherish these qualities."

"...I don't know if I can. Who will teach me?"

"Mmm...you're still young, you will learn. Watch those around you, what makes them smile? Laugh? Remember, you are not alone in this world, as you were before. There are people you can friends."

"Friends?" The word felt so foreign in my mouth. I knew this term, but I didn't need friends to survive. But she answered my thoughts before I could ask another question.

"Oh yes, you do need friends to survive. You will make friends unknowingly. Try not to push them away as you have been doing. Stay with them for awhile, you will grow to have feelings for them. Now, I believe it is time for me to take my leave, it seems that your new companions will arrive soon. Until then, goodbye."  
Once again, I opened my eyes, but this time, it wasn't so bright. _The room doesn't have any windows_, I realized. the overhead light was switched off so the only light present was that of the late afternoon sun filtering through the sliding paper doors through the open hallway. The fire in my stomach had died down a bit, as I noticed when I got up. There was no seal around the door this time, but I wasn't going anywhere anyways. I decided to listen to the woman inside of me, I mean, I do owe part of my life to her. Slowly stretching my stiff legs, I slowly walked out of the room again. By this time, I was seriously starving. Trusting my nose, I found my way into the kitchen to find Yoshimori's father cooking a feast. Never had I lain my eyes upon such extravagant dishes.

"Oh! Honomi-San! You must be starving! Have some food to eat first, dinner won't be until later. Gen-kun will be coming over for dinner tonight as well."

"Who?"

"Shishio Gen. He's also an ayakashi-majiri like you, and he's pretty good friends with Yoshimori and Tokine. Now, eat up! We've got to get you back to top health conditions, you're too skinny, what did they feed you there?!" He started to talk to himself after he set a bowl of steaming rice, vegetables, and juicy slices of beef in front of me. I couldn't resist but to dig in after I mustered a 'Thank you'. I heard Masamori enter the kitchen, twitching an ear in his direction reflexively.

"Looks like the little kitty is hungry," he chuckled. "be sure to eat your fill, you're going to need it, where were going in a few days is pretty far."

"What? I'm not going anywhere, I didn't even consent to go with you." I screwed up my face at him.

"Hmm, we'll see how well you do tomorrow night then, the ayakashi-majiri I originally had posted here should arrive for dinner tonight."

"Okay, let's get this straight, you're not my mother, dad, brother, or whatever, so you can't take me to wherever you're going just 'cause you want to." He opened his mouth to respond, but then a messy bed-head stuck his head into the kitchen.

"Hey dad, I'm home! Guess what, today-" he stopped short when he saw me sitting at the table, half-finished bowl in front of me.

"What, never seen anyone eat before?"

"Uh...um are you sure you're supposed to be up right now?"

"If I'm up, then I'm up. Problem?" He just stood there with his mouth in a small frown. Deciding not to pay anymore attention to him, I finished my bowl and got up to put my bowl into the sink, but stumbled and nearly fell, still drained of energy. Luckily, Shuuji caught my bowls before they crashed into the counter.

"Sorry."

"It's alright, here, why don't you go with Yoshimori, he seems to be eager to talk to you, now that you're awake. I internally groaned.

"S-sure..."sweat dropping at the thought of what would happen to me if Shuuji-San gave me another one of his I-dare-you-to-disobey-me looks. For some reason more terrifying than the worst ayakashi I had ever encountered. _Is this what having a father feels like? Is this what a family feels like?_ All other thoughts were cut off as I focused on not tripping over my feet as Yoshimori dragged me through the endless hallways to his room.

* * *

**Well there ya go! Super long chapter 3~ Hope you all enjoyed it...and thanks for checking every weekend x) And for those of you who were wondering where Gen went, I just sent him off to some business in Yagyou...too many characters to handle in the beginning...heh. **

**But no worries! Gen will show up next chapter! Until then, see you all next weekend if everything goes well~**

**~Lydia Sanyue**


End file.
